It's February now ....the holidays are over. Did I hear a collective sigh of relief out there. Yes the hustle and bustle is over for another year, the children are back in school, and we're back to our regular schedules. That's the upside.

On the other hand, January or February have never been my favorite months. It's winter, it's cold, and the days are gray. Somehow, January seems to call for introspection. Have you made a New Year's Resolution? Have you broken it already? I do tend to step back and re-evaluate my life a bit this time of year, but I must admit I do not make resolutions. Instead I try and set attainable goals that are not measurable by one action or another. This way I avoid the guilt that bogs you down when you slip and break those promises you've made to yourself.

Here's an example. Did you gain a bit of weight over the holidays, or perhaps the pounds have crept up on you over the years. Instead of resolving to go on a diet and lose weight (and we all know that most "diets" don't work, and if they do we will not stay on them), set a goal to do all you can to become a healthier, you. This way every little thing you do to reach this goal becomes a triumph. Did you walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, or did you take a walk? Did you eat a healthy breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Did you perhaps take a favorite recipe and look at it and figure out a way to trim some of the fat from it. That way you can still enjoy your favorite things, but revel in the fact that you are doing something positive for yourself and your family.

Nothing seems quite so inviting on a winter evening as a pot of soup simmering on the stove. There is just something comforting about sitting down with a steaming bowl of soup and a good crusty bread. Add a salad or not as it pleases you because most of these soups already contain several servings of vegetables and can be considered a complete meal.

There are some "old" family recipes here that I have adapted for a low fat diet. The changes have not seemed to affect the flavor at all. Also included are two new recipes that I have tried since discovering that my husband is diabetic. They were both delicious and did not taste at all like "diet" food.

I have never had a written recipe for this soup. So I had to go back through the process step by step and write it down. My husband's mother made this soup in just this way all of her life. I was never a fan of vegetable soup, but this one I love.

The recipe is quite unique as all the vegetables in the soup are to be ground up. This seems to make the flavors blend nicely and children CANNOT pick out the vegetables they don't like. They won't even know they are in it. This soup freezes very well so I always make a large amount. I also find it just as medicinal as chicken soup when someone in the family has a cold or flu.

(This one requires a food processor, salad shooter, or "old fashioned" food grinder.)

Ingredients:

Broth:

• Soup bones (I use beef short ribs)
  
• 2 pounds lean beef roast
  
• 16 cups water
  
• 2 tsps salt

Bring above ingredients to a boil, turn down heat and simmer at least 2 hours until beef is tender. Remove shortribs and beef roast and cool.

You may go on to the next step and add vegetables at this stage, but if you want a fat-free broth, chill overnight and skim the fat before proceeding to the next step.

Vegetables and Beef:

• Cabbage, small head
  
• Carrots, 2 lb.
  
• Onions, 2 large
  
• Potatoes, 3 lbs

If you refrigerated your broth ovenight and skimmed off the fat, then place in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Grind all vegetables and add to the broth, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for an hour.

Remove any meat from the shortribs. Finely dice shortrib meat and potroast. Add at end of vegetable cooking time and simmer for 15 more minutes.

Serve and enjoy.

This is another one of my mother-in-law's recipes. And another that never was written down before. I call this "Michigan Chili" to differentiate it from the Tex-Mex thick chili con carne. This has more vegetables, is chunkier, and has a tomato juice base. We love it. This is another soup that freezes well.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. lean ground beef
  
• 4 or 5 stalks celery, diced
  
• 1 large onion, diced
  
• 2 cans stewed tomatoes
  
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
  
• 1 large can tomato juice
  
• Sugar to taste....start with 1 Tblspn
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  
• Chili powder to taste...start with 2 Tblspn
  
• 2 or 3 cans dark red kidney beans, drained
  

Brown the ground beef and saute with the celery and onion until crisp-tender.

(To cut out even more fat you may drain the beef in a colander, and rinse it under running water if you like.)

Transfer to a large soup pot. Add stewed tomatoes, broken up a bit, diced tomatoes, tomato juice, and seasonings.

Simmer for an hour or so, add kidney beans just before serving and heat through.

You may adjust the amount of all ingredients to suit your taste. You may also add some garlic if you like.

This is a new recipe. I made this for New Year's day. It tastes rich and is quite hearty, but very healthy as you will see.

If you don't tell anyone it is low fat, they will never know.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 to 1 lb fully cooked smoked turkey, diced (you may use smoked,cooked turkey from the deli, chopped)
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 1 red bell pepper, diced or 2 tblspns pimento
  
• 1 cup finely diced celery
  
• 1 large potato, diced
  
• 2 cups frozen cut corn
  
• 2 cans (16 ounces each) fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth
  
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  
• 2 cups skim milk
  
• 4 oz shredded low fat cheddar cheese
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• fresh ground pepper to taste
  
• 1/2 cup freshly diced parsley

Spray a large soup pot with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium heat until hot. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper (or pimento) and cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender.

Stir in potatoes and broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Add turkey and stir in corn. Blend the flour and milk in a bowl then gradually stir it into the pot.

Increase heat to medium and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Add cheese and stir until melted and well blended. Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

Makes 8-10 Servings

• Serving Size: 12 ounces. Nutrients per serving: (approx.)
• Calories: 202
• Total fat: 3 grams
• Saturated fat: 1 grams
• Cholesterol: 33 mg
• Sodium: 428 mg
• Carbohydrate: 22 grams
• Protein: 22 grams
• Dietary fiber: 2 grams

Here are some easy go-withs to round out your soup supper. The Beer Bread is fast, simple, and fat-free.
The Winter Fruit Bread Pudding is simple, colorful, very tasty, and healthy.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups self-rising flour
  
• 1 twelve ounce can beer, room temperature - * Please use fresh (not flat) full flavored, (not light) beer.

Mix lightly and pour into greased loaf pan. bake at 375 F (metal pan) or 350 F (glass pan) for 30 minutes.

Variations:
You may vary this bread in many ways. You can add:

• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese OR
• 1 can chopped green chilis, drained OR
• 1/4 cup drained, chopped pickled jalapeno peppers OR
• 1/2 cup drained, chopped green, black, or kalamata olives OR
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped chives OR
• Add the cheese and any one of the other ingredients mentioned.

(This one is suitable for diabetics, but actually very tasty for the whole family)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups fat free milk
  
• 4 eggs (if you wish to lower the fat even farther use 1 - 8 oz carton of egg substitute)
  
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  
• 5 cups fresh breadcrumbs (I used a mixture of whole wheat and white)
  
• 8 dried apricot halves, snipped in small pieces
  
• 3 tblspn. dried currants (raisins, dried cherries, or dried cranberries would also be fine.)
  
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
  
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  
• 3 tblspns. sugar (alternately,you may use the equivalent of the sugar in Splenda or Sweet and Low.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat the milk, eggs, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla together in a mixing bowl.

Place the apricots, dried currants, and breadcrumbs in a large bowl mix thoroughly, add the liquid mixture and mix evenly.

Place in a large baking dish coated with cooking spray. You may sprinkle a bit more cinnamon on the top if you wish.

Bake at 325 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 8 servings.
Diabetic exchange value per serving:

• 2 starches
• 1/2 meat

"Sterling Moon is my favorite specialty coffee!" David E. Brown,
[Billy Joel's former lead guitarist for 11 years] Gloucester, MA

Visit the gURLz Gazette Archives to read previous articles by this author.

Disclaimer   |    Archived Articles